budgeting

budgeting

A new year often brings along new budgets as we seek to get a better hold on our personal finances in 2016. A household budget helps finances run smoothly, eliminating surprises and setting a clear path for every dollar that comes into the house. However, some people have a hard time making their budget work for them. If anyone feels trapped by their budget or feels like it just never works, they might actually be cheating on their budget. This can happen consciously or subconsciously. A successful budget requires complete honesty and recognition of the natural desire to enjoy life.

Students can truly benefit from studying abroad. With our globalized society providing jobs all around the world, students who immerse themselves in other cultures will have the upper hand. Students can expect to get practical knowledge and understanding while having the time of their lives. That being said, studying abroad is not cheap. There are a number of different costs associated with the experience, requiring a lot of strategic budgeting to succeed.

Life as a responsible adult means juggling and properly handling finances. The overwhelming majority of all adults throughout the nation have debt, with roughly a third of Americans falling into delinquency, according to a 2014 report from USA Today. The average person also has a minimum of two credit cards, a mortgage or similar loan, and other finances to juggle. Checking your personal finances is a necessity to keep in good standing with creditors and to keep your credit score, investments, interest rates, and other fiscal aspects healthy.

Keeping up with the Jones' now has some competition. It's keeping up with Charlie and Norm, your buddies from college. Could it be that many of your financial troubles stem from trying to keep up with the expensive tastes of your friends that go beyond your meager budget? Many of us are almost unable to decline our friends when we really shouldn't do x, y, or z, because it just isn't in the budget.

If you haven’t been following the news recently, then you’ve been missing out on quite the political battle in Washington, DC over our nation’s debt. I’d go into more detail, but the specifics and grand-standing would probably give you a headache. To make a long story short: we need to cut spending and raise revenues, but neither party can agree on a way to move forward and the President is left shaking his head at party leaders behaving more like spoiled children rather than statesmen. Our national budget may be a mess, but yours doesn’t have to be. Creditnet has an easy, 5-step process to making sure your budget is sound so you don’t end up with a crippling debt like Washington.

I was fortunate to spend more time than usual chatting on the phone with my Dad for Father's Day last month. We should definitely spend more time talking, because he’s a great man that has taught me some of the most important financial lessons in life: budgeting, leveraging 0% interest credit cards and loans, and working with my spouse to find common goals and aspirations. Like most older gentlemen, he has also spent hours upon hours telling me about how things used to be. One of his stories popped in my mind during work today, while I closed a savings account that had one cent of unposted interest. As I made a joke to my client about not spending all that new interest in one place, I remembered my dad telling me of all the things he used to be able to buy with a penny.

Daylight Saving Time is upon us and spring is right around the corner. As the yearly weather cycle starts anew, you’re most likely trying to find motivation for spring cleaning and, once again, getting your life in order. We may not have any advice on how to better organize your house, but we do have a system to get your finances in order.

"Save more money" is a very normal goal for a New Year’s resolution. But if you aren’t rolling in disposable income, it can be tricky to figure out where to pinch the pennies that will pay off in the long run. Setting a budget – even a loose one – is the easiest way to have a few extra dollars to tuck away each month.

I really dislike carrying cash. It's dirty, makes my wallet annoyingly bulky, and always seems to disappear faster than it should. What's even worse is ending up with a pocket full of change after being forced to buy something with it. The horror! I used to catch my Mom throwing away pennies when I was kid because she didn't want to carry them, but frankly, I can't bring myself to do that. I'm too cheap. So I do the next best thing...dump the change into my wife's bottomless purse to never be seen again. I guess it has basically the same effect, but mentally I can handle it much better.

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